Goneshots
by macrauchenia
Summary: A collection of one-shots about the GONE world using songs. Individual summaries inside as well as a full cast of characters, genres, and situations. Shot of the moment: Bury Me Alive
1. Losing My Religion

**Title:** Losing My Religion  
**Characters: **Caine and Diana  
**Summary: **"I still am unclear on your logic, Diana. How could you have drawn those conclusions from a song that's only a few minutes long?" A simple 20 Questions game leads to a not so subtle hint and a song disection.  
**Rating/Warning: **K - There isn't anything bad in this one. It's just that peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich-you-just-found-under-your-bed-after-a-few-weeks kind of fluff.  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the GONE series, nor do I own the lyrics to 'Losing My Religion'. They belong to Michael Grant and R.E.M., respectively. I own nothin'. Not a thing.  
**Authors Note: **Alrighty. Here we go. What my attempt to do in "G(oneshots)" is just probably what you think it is: a series of sometimes related (but sometimes not) oneshots about the characters of the FAYZ. I was going to put an introduction but I doubt anyone would read it, it would seem repetative, and I'm just too lazy to bother. I really don't know what else to put here. Have you ever gotten the feeling that these Author Notes are harder to write than the actual story? And I apologize for being such a rambler. Some people go on and on and on for no reason and I am on of those. Well, I hope you enjoy the first part in "G(oneshots)" and thank you for clicking on this story.

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"Diana?"

"Yes, Fearless Leader?" was the snarky reply.

Caine grimaced. The two were sitting in the very expensively furnished guest living room of the infamous 'Todifer' mansion. He glanced around nervously. He didn't belong here. Never in his wildest fantasies had he imagined himself sitting on a several thousand dollar couch in the home of two famous actors. Next to Diana Ladris of all people. He shifted uncomfortably. Ever since the FAYZ started, he knew things would skyrocket out of proportion. He knew things would be weird, be different. But he'd never be able to guess his current predicament. And however like a dream it sounded—being trapped on a beautiful island with his love and food—Caine knew he was trapped in a nightmare.

"What's you're favorite color?"

The smart-alecky reply died on the Coates beauty's lips. "Um, what?" She turned to look at Caine. "Finally cracking under all the stress?" she smirked. "Of, you know, nothing other than leading our school to ruins?"

_She's back, _Caine thought, mostly with dismay but also a small shard of hope. Since he had pulled Diana out of the air and they watched Sanjit and his family fly away, the girl had been avoiding him like the plague. And now she was finally in the same room with him again. _The things that please a megalomaniac…_

"I want to know you better. After finding out what you almost did to me, I don't think I know you anymore. I'm not sure I _want_ to know you now." Caine's voice was stiff and Diana almost looked away. But she couldn't. To look away would give Caine a small victory. So she held her own gaze against Caine's bottomless one.

"What's your favorite color?" he repeated, staring at her from the opposite side of the room. When he had entered the living room, he had sat quite close to the girl. The moment he sank into the plush couch, she was ten feet away, lounging on the matching piece. He yanked his baleful stare from Diana and stared pointedly on the blank TV.

She was silent for a moment. "Yellow."

Caine swiveled his head and stared at the girl with wide eyes. "Yellow?" he managed to choke out. Diana sniffed and nodded.

"Yeah, yellow. What's wrong with it? Not evil enough for you? Not dark enough?" Diana glared at him. "Not crazy enough?" She internally cursed herself for caring about what the egomaniac thought.

Caine smirked at her; he was very pleased on how the conversation had quickly fallen in his favor. "It was just…unexpected. Maybe hanging around Drake for so long made me think you'd say some gory color like misery purple or tear blue...or his favorite, blood red." He shuddered, not wanting to imagine _that_ particular hue.

"Misery purple?" Diana rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Don't ask your next question if it's going to be stupid like that one."

"What's your favorite animal?" Caine said as quickly as possible so Diana wouldn't get the chance to interrupt him.

"Animal? Hmmm… Has to be something I can eat. A human? What other things can you eat?" Diana put an expression of mock thoughtfulness on her face. Caine stared flatly at her. "I don't know. A swan maybe?" Even though it was warm without air conditioning, she had a thick blanket resting across her lap.

Caine nodded. "Care to elaborate?"

"No."

"You sure?" he forced his dark eyes into hers. She tried to hold his stare but again the girl felt her cheeks burn slightly. Why she was embarrassed, Diana didn't know.

"New question please," Diana said in a hopefully toneless voice.

The telepath nodded and went quiet for a moment. "Were you grateful for when I saved your life? Either the time with Drake or this past one on the cliff."

Diana stood up so quickly the blanket tumbled off her lap and onto the floor. "I'm done with 20 questions. I need some air." She turned away from Caine and started to stalk away. An invisible force pulled her back onto the couch. She grunted as her body hit the seat hard. It didn't seem so plushy anymore. "Let me go!" she growled at him. Caine sighed and Diana felt the choking force pressed on her releasing.

"Answer my question," was all Caine said.

"Here's my question. Why won't you leave me alone?" She earned a fierce glare from the boy. Diana sighed dramatically. She was stuck. Again. Like so many of Caine's reckless plans, she was the one who had to pay for it. The girl tenderly touched her short hair and thought about what to say. "I'll answer that question, but then you have to let me go."

Caine didn't indicate that he heard her. Instead he just repeated his question again. "Are you glad I saved your life?"

The girl bit her lip. "Ye-es…" she said, drawing it out slowly and unsteadily. Then she realized what she was saying. Her eyes narrowed and shook her head at him. "Not the way you're thinking," she snarled at him. He looked taken back for a brief second before a cool expression masked his face. "If you didn't save me, I'd be sitting in some inner circle of hell right now. That's where I belong," she turned away, bitterness in her voice. She narrowed her eyes further into slits and hid her entire face from Caine. "I just want to prolong the inevitable. Maybe if I do the impossible and get you to feel any remorse, maybe my sentence will be lifted." The girl's shoulders sagged slightly. "I don't really know where I belong…" she murmured softly.

He almost wanted to say 'You Belong With Me' but somehow the Coates boy thought that would sound a bit too cheesy. And Caine _never_ would be caught dead using some cliché line. Instead he just nodded.

"One more question and I'll let you go," he said softly. While Diana was looking away, the boy slipped to his feet and was standing only a foot or so away from the girl. Despite the softness in his voice, she still jumped.

She pointed angrily at him while glaring. "You said that was the last question!" She poked his chest roughly with her index finger.

"Did I?" A sheepish grin lit up the boy's gaunt face. Diana turned and tried to stomp away. She only got a foot before Caine's hand wrapped around her upper arm.

"Get off!" she snapped, ripping away his grip. The boy's hand fell slowly to his side and suddenly he looked exhausted.

"Fine," he muttered, sauntering back to the couch. He flopped himself on it and leaned back into the seat. Diana let out another huge sigh and rolled her eyes. She made a big production of walking back to the boy, loud groans and sighs at every step.

"Is our Fearless Leader upset to hear someone refuse him?" But despite her sarcastic words, the girl sat carefully by him. Still on the same seat but far enough so that their knees or any other skin wasn't touching. "One more question."

Caine looked over at her and again shock passed over his features. "My my, Diana. Are you being civil now?"

"Let's get this over with," she growled.

"Don't worry. It's not as 'intense' as that past one was. This one will be easier for you."

She scowled at him. "Just ask the freaking question!"

A large smirk spread across his face. "What's your favorite song?"

"Before or after the FAYZ started?"

"Is there a difference?" Caine tilted his head at her. He was expecting some pop song or something from that year for her answer. Even though Diana pretended to be heartless and emotionless, Caine knew she was still partly a love-sick girl. And girls _loved_ music like that. He just begged in his heart it wasn't someone like that prepubescent kid, Justin Bieber.

"Yeah, there's a pretty big difference."

"Okay…" He glanced up at the high ceilings in the living room. "Since pre-FAYZ doesn't really matter now, after the FAYZ started."

"_Losing My Religion_," she answered automatically.

"What?" His reaction was similar to the yellow response. He was waiting for her to hesitate and say some horrible synthesized song. Some awful song he'd rather chew his own foot off than listen to.

"I said_,_ _Losing My Religion," _she repeated crossly.

"By R.E.M.?" Caine asked, trying to get the facts straight. He was surprised by her answer. Of course he was familiar with the song—his 'father' was a big fan of the band from the 90's—but he just wasn't expecting it. It seemed a bit out of place for the teenage girl to be listening to a band that was created years before she was born—much less make that her favorite song.

"Yeah. You have a problem with that too?" Diana glared at him.

Caine shook his head. "No. I'm just curious on _why_ you'd pick that song. The song really has no chorus or storyline to it." He personally had never gotten it and was now hoping she could shine a little light on it.

"Well," Diana shrugged. "I don't know. I like it. I've always felt like I can identify with. And it does too have a point to it!"

"You can identify with it…? Miss Ladris, are you losing your religion? I didn't know you worshiped a deity. I am unfamiliar with what the devil pays tribute to." Caine tilted his head with a smirk on his face.

"That's not what the song means, you idiot!" Caine's smirk froze and she continued. "Don't take the lyrics as someone literally losing their faith in God or whoever it is up there. The song is about losing your faith in somebody. Somebody you thought you knew before." Caine's face became cool and impassive.

"What do you mean?" he demanded, eyes betraying the slight emotion in his body.

The girl ran a hand through her short hair and a blank look slipped into her vision. "I don't know. I guess the way I see it is that you can be giving this person all the signs in the world…that you feel more than something for them…and they just go and ignore you. Or you really want something to happen and it just doesn't." The girl sighed dejectedly and slouched against the couch.

While Diana was slumped across the seat, Caine was perfectly rigid in posture.

"I still am unclear on your logic, Diana. How could you have drawn those conclusions from a song that's only a few minutes long?" Caine's voice was devoid of all emotion. The girl winced. It always went that way before the telepath would fly into one of his great rants or rages.

"Um, well, let's just say that I've been trying so hard for a while to let this guy know my opinions of him but not make them so…pre-teenish. It's not working. Y-I mean, this guy is unsympathetic about everything and cares more about himself than anyone else in the world. This guy thought my favorite color was misery purple! I tried to help him out, but everything I've tried has caused us to grow more distant. And now, I'm just starting to think that maybe it isn't meant to be. I don't even think he thinks I'm beautiful anymore," the girl sniffed sadly.

Caine raised an eyebrow at her speech. "But I believe this guy does know what your favorite color is. I believe he thinks it is yellow."

Diana rolled her eyes. "Knowing my favorite color isn't going to change everything, Caine!" she half shouted, exasperation clear in her voice.

"Wouldn't it help if this guy at least tried? It sounds like he is. I think I thought I saw him try." Caine said, pulling from one of the lines from the song. A cool smirk was fixed on his face.

Diana gave him a flat look. "This guy better try harder if he wants to make this more than just a dream."

Caine's face was only a foot from Diana's. While arguing they had, without thinking, scooted closer together. His deep eyes bore into the girl. "So what should this guy and you do then, Diana? Should they try harder or just slip away?"

Silence filled the rapidly shrinking gap between the two. Diana shifted slightly, feeling uncomfortably hot in the house. "I don't know. They'll have to see what happens. Oh no, I've said too much." She pulled away from his gaze and turned away. Suddenly the mood was broken. Staring at the blank TV, Diana was able to compose herself and forced the red from her face. Caine too seemed bored by the sudden turn of events. He picked at invisible snags on his shirt for a few minutes before talking again.

"So there's no greater being involved at all in your interpretation of this song?"

Diana's mouth twisted into a rueful smile. "I wouldn't exactly say no. This person in question thinks pretty high of himself. He's pretty incredible though, so I guess he's allowed to think that way." She turned back towards Caine, a snarky smirk on her face.

The boy grinned. "I assume you are talking about me then?"

"No, your brother."

"Sam?" Caine looked faintly amused.

Diana rolled her eyes at the boy. "No, your _other_ hidden twin brother with superpowers. His name is Peter and he can shoot fire out his nose. You two should meet sometime; y'all would have a blast."

"Funny Diana," Caine said, feeling somewhat cross. He just wanted to hear her say what they both knew already. "No really. Who is he?"

"I told you already," Diana insisted stubbornly. "I like Sam."

"Something about my goodie two shoes brother doesn't scream 'a god on earth' to me. Don't tell me that it's Drake you've been pining over for."

Diana's eyes grew absurdly large and she shook her head frantically. "No, no, no!"

Caine found her reaction oddly funny. He laughed and Diana's cheeks burned again. "If you promise to leave me alone now, I'll tell you what the other three answers mean." Diana's words were taunting and they hooked Caine as effectively as the Gaiaphage ever had. "Maybe you can let the other guy know about those answers—they could really help him out later on."

"Deal," Caine said with eyes wide with a malicious glee.

Diana took a deep breath and pushed herself as far away from the smug boy as possible. "Yellow has been my favorite color ever since you showed me that V-neck sweater before we invaded Perdido Beach. I thought it would make you look like a girl and well, you know… Not batting for the same team. And then…where would we be then?" Caine's cheeks tinged slightly red at this. Drake had something along the same lines—just not as censored. "But then when the sweater did everything but that, I realized that yellow was my favorite color. Swans are very beautiful—"

"Is it just me or am I sensing you have problems with your appearance and modesty? Are you feeling inadequate to those around you? 'Cause Bug and I are the only ones here. Feeling inadequate to us means something is really wrong with you." Caine snickered. He always felt like he was in his niche either when he was controlling entire towns or analyzing someone's psychological problems. "You seemed distraught because _he_ didn't think you were beautiful anymore. Just to let you know, I think you are very nice looking. Even with that piece of green in your teeth."

"Shut up, Soren! I wasn't finished yet." Diana crossed her arms at him. When she thought he wasn't looking, she scrubbed furiously at her teeth. He smirked and waved his hand for her to continue. From habit, the girl glanced around her, waiting to see DVDs erupt from the cabinet or something fly out of control. When nothing happened, she continued. "Also, when swans find their uh, partner, they'll stay with them forever." She made sure to avoid Caine's expressionless eyes. "And just to let you know, I still have a crush on your twin brother!" she added loudly. Both of them knew that was a lie though.

"The last question?"

Diana frowned. "Do I need to explain it? I said I was happy that you saved my life. I don't want to die. Staying here in a false paradise with you is better than where Drake is or where I should be. There! Happy?" She stood up quickly, patronizingly patted Caine on the head, and was halfway across the room so he couldn't pull her back.

Caine leaned back in his chair. It wasn't exactly an 'I love you' but it was enough from a cold witch like Diana. He smiled smugly. Some things could revel themselves in time while others he may never know. He was shocked with what he was able to pull out of her and quite frankly, it exhausted him.

"What was your favorite song before the FAYZ?" he called out after her.

"One Less Lonely Girl by Justin Bieber," she shouted back, disappearing around the corner. Caine laughed softly to himself.

"Ahh, of course." How could he have thought differently?

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**Thank you very much for reading. I hope the song went well with the story! Happy New Years Day!**


	2. On Fire

**Title:** On Fire  
**Characters**: Ellen and Edilio  
**Summary:** "I have learned that playing too close to the flames will get you burned, but that's only if you believe it will. Lucky for me, I know that love doesn't exist." An insight into the life of Ellen the fire chief and why she is the was she is.  
**Rating/Warning: **K+ Some partially graphic scenes of a fire but no real violence.  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the GONE series, nor do I own the lyrics to 'On Fire'. They belong to Michael Grant and Switchfoot, respectively. Perhaps the only thing I _do _own is the 'Do Not Remove By Federal Law' tag on my mattress which I am too terrified to remove.  
**Authors Note: **About this particular 'shot', I have always been fascinated by the character of Ellen the fire chief. She's kind of an odd one. She has a role in the books but her character is not developed. I know she is a very minor character, but apparently she played a big part in the Great Fire but no where else. I don't know why, but I would like to find out more about this girl. Mr. Grant has put forth enough effort to give her a name...just not a past. I've tried to do that here. Based on the grand total of like six lines she had (p. 234, 258-263, and 308 in my copy of LIES), I've managed to scrap together than Ellen is probably a very smart and strong girl. She didn't seem to be overly broken by the fire which suggests she can ignore some emotions. With only the fire scenes as my basis, I revolved flames and an aversion to a certain feeling around her story. I hope the way the tale is presented isn't too weird. I really don't like 1st person point of view but I feel it was necessary to tell it that way.

* * *

Love is a cruel, illogical monster. If I have learned anything in this prison called the FAYZ, I've learned that love is something best to avoid. It makes a person senseless, brittle, and weak. People will always claim love fills one up with a burning passion, a drive to be unstoppable in their goal to save their loved ones. But they lie. Love interferes with one's duties, and only causes strife in life. In a world like the one I live in now, to shirk your responsibilities means death…or worse. In reality, love clouds one's rational thinking like thick, toxic smoke and leaves them bare to fatal mistakes. There is no 'great fire' that sparks within one's heart, for the heart is merely an organ. It is not the heart that determines love; it is the brain that creates a scorching, meaningless lust. There is no such thing as a real, true, all consuming love. And yet, _still_, foolish people want to believe there is such a thing in this icy world.

**_Tell you who you need to be...Tell you what you need to know_**

But I already knew all of this before the FAYZ wall came down. 'Love', the thing is supposedly meant to _build_families, ripped my own apart within a few weeks. My father was Perdido Beach's Volunteer Fire Chief, and when I was seven he was invincible. Every night he would come home to me, covered in soot, and tell me stories about the 26 cats he might have saved that night, or the baby he rescued from the third floor nursery. These stories never became boring to me and I would ask ceaselessly for more tales. I would lie in bed at night and wish for exciting situations like that to happen to me. As irony would find me, my young fantasies soon came true, much to my mortification. About when I was a few weeks from reaching eight years old, the jarring sound of the fire alarms brought me into a scene of choking smoke and heat. Somehow my family's house, the dwelling I had spent my entire life growing up in, was in flames. I always had wished for a chance like this, but when it had finally come, I was frozen in fear. Where was my father to save me? Like he always had before, when I had to eat my carrots or finish one particularly hard math problem? But I waited in the suffocating, thick smoke and blistering heat and no one came for me. I had tried to call out, but no one had heard me. I had never felt so alone, wondering if I was the last person alive in my family. After my strangled screams had become racking sobs and after they had become soft cries, someone was coming to get me. Gloved hands poked through the window and I dared to hope that they belonged to my father. Shrieking with joy, I had stumbled quite blindly to the strong gateway that led to freedom. But as the hands closed in what was meant as a comforting, 'I got you' sort of way, they only made my heart despair more. They were not the hands of my invincible father. And as I was pulled into the cold and dark night, I did not see my father behind that mask. I did not see my father anywhere.

It was not until I had spent a fretful night in a frozen, sterile hospital room in some neighboring hospital that I learned that Perdido Beach's Volunteer Fire Chief had perished in the fire. Never before in my young life had I ever been so grief-stricken. Later I was told that after safely getting my younger sister and brother out of the house, my father rushed back to either save my mother or myself. He was so quick in his haste that he completely disregarded firefighter rules and skimped on the equipment needed to make another successful trip. To try to cheer up my very low spirits, his friends told me in a forced, light tone that his had been driven completely by love to save us. He could not have spared a few moments to ensure his life was saved because every second taken up by doing that was another second that my life or my mother's was in jeopardy. The comments were meant to cheer me up but they did just the opposite. My personal vendetta against this meddlesome emotion called love was just beginning to fester.

My poor mother did not last longer. She too suffered from another complication from this accursed love. She wasted away without her husband and became sicklier than a corpse. It was not too long until she simply wasted away to nothing. I did not understand how a single emotion could kill two people in so very distinct ways. Many years later, as my class would read tragedies of Shakespeare, they would scoff at the multiple deaths from love—either from being too overjoyed or being too heartbroken. I did not believe any of them realized it could actually happen in reality. The funeral for my mother was exactly one month after the funeral for my father. Just as many people came and about the same amounts of condolences were given to the rest of my pathetic family. To me, love was an abomination that if it joined two people in marriage, it would surely kill them eventually.

Just when I thought I had a chance to recover, irony and fate decided to team up together and make another joke out of me again. My two siblings and I were tossed into homes of relatives and friends of my late parents. My sister acclimated well but my brother did not. From a lack of love, he grew more bitter than even I. Not even three years later, he became tangled within gangs and violence because no one cared enough to try to stop him. A rare shooting a few towns away led to his premature death. Horrified at what happened so close to home, my sister, my last closely remaining relative, and her new adoptive family fled town and I've yet to hear from them since. I suppose I never will again, either.

By then I had been to three more funerals than anyone should ever have to endure—least of all an eleven year old child. Again people, now ones so distant that I hardly remembered their name, came to offer their condolences. I did not know them, and they did not know me. Their words were cold and hollow and did not hold the warmth of even a tiny ember. It did not matter to me though. I was sick of fires.

**_So much more than empty conversations...Filled with empty words_**

Love was my greatest and bitterest rival. The lighthearted, giddy feeling I had paralleled with 'true loves kiss' and fairy princesses in my childhood had taken a complete turn for the worse. After over six years of numbness and isolation, I thought my head was about to burst. Of course I had a few friends at school, but that was the closest I ever came to an honest-to-goodness relationship. There was no one I could tell my secrets to so naturally I turned to writing and reading and thus improved my vocabulary tenfold. At least with fiction I had the choice to read light, adventurous stories or tragic poems. Never once in my life did I ever pick up a romantic novel or read a flowery sonnet in my own free will. It started as a Herculean task, and I often thought I would not succeed, but I managed to banish love from my life. All that was left of the tiresome emotion was an empty name which had no other meaning to me other than a mere space holder in sentence not completely finished. Now, along with the departure of love, much of my happiness died as well. I did not mind. It closed me away from much of the world and most emotions but I seldom made any mistakes or experienced pain or sorrow.

When the FAYZ began, I was fourteen. I supposed that holding out against love would be no different than it was in my past life. In fact, I fell under the impression that it would be easier. In my twisted mind, I reasoned that a fragile and worthless emotion like love could not survive in the cruel world of the FAYZ. Hunger, insanity, fury, and death would soon overpower all hope for its survival. After all, if one wants to survive, one must remain as numb and closed to those around them as much as possible. Like all other children in the first few panicky months, I looked up to Sam Temple. He was the leader. We were, by some invisible law of natural, supposed to love him and praise him for saving us from Drake, Caine, and the Darkness. While it was Sam Temple who I initially admired, another boy soon came into the scene. His name was Edilio and much to my chagrin, something began to happen.

I immediately wrote it off as a simple companionship. He had done something for me and it was so minor I can not even recall it. Perhaps it was that he shared some food or something along the lines of that. I tried to convince myself that it was nothing more than friendship that I held for Edilio. The Thanksgiving Day Battle came and went and my feelings intensified. He saved me from one of Caine's men, firing a warning shot over the thug's head and warning him to never come near me again. The coolness and confidence that radiated from the boy actually caused me pain, for it made me think of my lost family. He reminded me of my father who also had saved me from a jerk in a sandbox many, many years ago. After the battle, the general feelings of all preteen girls for Sam changed from a hidden puppy love to an open inferno of obsession. Knowing I was clearly losing the 'Edilio was just a friend' battle, I compromised with myself: I had a slight infatuation for the Honduran. I allowed myself the little crush. I had never faltered in the line of battle against love before, but I also had never been so emotionally and physically compromised in my life. _What could it hurt?_I had thought. Like my first thoughts at the beginning of the FAYZ, the little spark would soon choke itself out and that would be the end of that. It was only some blasted hormone in my body, crying out for someone to pine for. Many had chosen Sam, who protected them, some followed their stomachs and loved the fisher, some even fell for the bad boys who had tried to kill them, Caine and Drake—although no one admitted to liking _those_two openly. I suppose I didn't want to be left out so I picked the one hardly anyone had noticed, yet he had been as big of a hero as Sam. I chose Edilio. In a desperate attempt to destroy the simmering feelings for the boy, I became a soldier. Maybe seeing him more would drive any mysterious feelings from my body. Sadly, it did not work. My cold detachment from illogical emotions such as fear and love made me a better soldier than I could have anticipated. Edilio and I grew closer due to the fact that I would not shy away from my duties. While others chickened out when we faced coyotes and other monsters, I did not. The FAYZ slowly tore apart my dusty covering of my family and I was reminded of them more on a daily basis. I was fueled with the determination to be just like my father. I did not miss him but I grew in strength from the fleeting memories I held of him. As my aspirations led me to be the best I could be, my friendship with Edilio became deeper and exactly the opposite of what I had wanted it to be in the beginning. But I did not care by then. I had finally found someone I could trust for the first time in forever. I was becoming a girl completely different from the Ellen that had cursed the emotion of love and everything that sprouted from it. I had tried to convince myself that everything would be okay; this was a new world so I could be a new person. It ended up being a huge mistake.

**_And you're on fire...When's he's near you_**

Days faded into weeks and weeks faded into months. Sam had become the leader of our town and Edilio replaced Drake as sheriff. Perdido Beach needed a new fire chief. Cold irony could not and would not leave me alone. Knowing of my past story with fires but not knowing the _whole_story, Edilio and the rest of the council asked me to take the job. I could not refuse them. The town of Perdido Beach somewhat needed me. Like the case of Nurse Dahra, if one had even a lick of knowledge about something, they were considered an expert in the FAYZ. I kept a cool head in a crisis and knew how to work most of the machinery in the fire department. And so I became the new fire chief. If it wasn't for the fact that I was needed by all the kids of Perdido Beach, then it was because that would have been what my father would have done. It seemed like a fitting way to preserve his memory if I was refusing to love.

Caine's decision to meddle with the power was the final straw in making me realize love was a horrible thing. While Sam, Edilio, and the other fighters had gone off to battle Caine's army, I was left back in town. A drunken mob of eleven year olds had set fire to some abandoned house. It was just a small fire—nothing that would be too dangerous or taxing. My fellow firefighters had already hooked up the pipes and turned on the water, waiting for the powerful jet to come coursing through.

Nothing happened.

With the electrical system out, we lost the water and sewage as well. The fire crackled and set a dangling blanket on fire. The flames sped across the fabric and onto the wooden porch above. That too ignited and soon the entire building was in flames. What had started out as small fire soon erupted into an impossibly hot inferno. Sparks flew from the abandoned house onto one that was currently in use. Three sparks sizzled on the gravelly shingles before finally catching. They made a hissing noise as the flames joined together and started to burn through the roof. The others and I stared at it with gapping mouths. Several had never seen anything this terrible before. I, on the other hand, had before when my own house was in flames. I forced my sluggish brain to form a plan of action. I was about to start some movement to get the fire off of the house when I heard screaming. My blood froze as if someone had poured ice cubes into my bloodstream. It was a little girl, probably a few years younger than I was when I had lost my family. It sounded as if she were close to a window by us. By then the fire had completely absorbed the roof. A hot, waxy material from the shingles dripped from the roof and splattered against the pavement. Sweat beaded across my forehead from both the heat and stress. My fellow coworkers flinched and looked at me with wide and questioning eyes. They didn't know what to do. 'We have to get the people out,' I had choked out. I told those nearest to me to get a ladder and set it up against the house. I was personally going to climb it when another frantic child came running to find us. 'Help! Help!' he had cried with wide eyes. 'Everyone's dead!' I asked him what he meant and he told the firefighters gathered around me that Sam, Edilio, and the other leaders had been killed by the Darkness. He had heard from others that the results from the battle against Caine and the Darkness had not been cheerful. Despite the intense heat from the blaze, I was frozen in place and soon began to shiver slightly. I could dimly hear my helpers shouting at me and everything else around me. They were trying not to panic and were doing a commendable job of it. I had completely shut down and left my crew to whatever they could scrap together. Terrified thoughts rushed through my head. _What if Edilio really was dead? What am I going to do?_I continued to dwell upon these glum ideas until the fire was safely contained. They had managed to get the girl out without too much injury, no thanks to me. I quickly congratulated those who went into the house and made my exit from the scene as fast as I could. I had never been so ashamed in my life. My feelings for Edilio almost killed a child. Here I was, the girl who was supposed to hate love till the end of her days, becoming infatuated with some hero who could sling a gun and it made me lose control. Just like I had warned myself, love almost had claimed more innocent lives. It _did_ cause me to become weak and irrational. The choice to stand and stare was illogical. It almost killed someone. I would never do it again.

One more thing I learned from the FAYZ was never trust the word of a frantic eight year old. Sam was not dead and neither was Edilio. They had come close, but they were still breathing. Sam congratulated my squad and me on our relatively successful save. The flames of embarrassment had burned even more in my cheeks. I wanted to resign from my post as fire chief but I could not bring myself to say the words. What would my father have done? So instead I destroyed every last scrap of feeling for Edilio in my entire being. I had come too close to the fire and in punishment was badly singed. Like a small child, I learned my lesson to stay away from the dreaded emotion.

**_Give me one more time around...Give me one more chance to see_**

By the time the Great Perdido Beach Fire happened, I had rendered myself to be completely emotionless when the time needed me to be. People forgot my first mishap and soon I was a helping star in the community again. Young children, who I had been able to pull out of accidental blazes, thanked me profusely and threw different sayings of love at me. To them it was just a deeper way of thanking me. I just forced a smile and would accept it. They didn't mean it. In a few days, perhaps hours, it would all be forgotten. At the fire, my resolve was tested again. The flames were hot and high. They were the worst and most horrible things I had ever laid eyes on. I quickly spotted Edilio and decided that he would know what to do first. Unlike my first attempt at quelling a fire without water, I was not paralyzed with fear. Sure, I was a bit apprehensive, but I was not afraid. Edilio himself had looked like he was losing it. I forced my mask into a firmer expression of cool confidence, the same I had seen him wear so long ago with the coyotes, and told the others of my plan. I had heard my father speak of fire bricks when the Stefano Rey National Park had caught on fire from a freak lightning storm. It seemed like the best way to defeat this fire here. I retold my idea to Edilio, who seemed to grasp onto it like a drowning man. It had been a long and exhausting night but finally we managed to compress the fire into one small area where it soon folded in on itself. Edilio watched it die with a sad weariness, Howard with a pathetic smirk, Orc was about as revealing as a rock, no pun intended, and the others watched it with emotions varying from anguish to defeat to small albeit unbridled victory. I, myself, watched it with a mix between contempt and conquest. To me, this fire was the final campaign in the war against love. And I just won.

I had spent almost half of my life hating anything and everything that had to deal with the four letter word associated with Valentine's Day and marriage. When I thought irony had spent all of its time laughing at me, it gave me one last gift. The fire, which had inadvertently destroyed my family, was my ally for once. Its ravage upon Perdido Beach killed all renegade thoughts of love in my mind. I had finally become immune to the disease. Like it was before the FAYZ, love was again an empty word, and that was the way I preferred it. I was numb to all emotions that ran along that thin line between love and friendship. I suppose some would say this isn't a healthy way of thinking. If things had been different when I was a child, I certainly wouldn't be like this now. Some could definitely argue that I've killed all of my happiness and this will soon be my downfall. But I would rather sacrifice any happiness to maintain my duties. With love, you can not perform as well. Love clouds one's rational thinking like thick, toxic smoke and leaves them bare to fatal mistakes. Love makes people brittle, senseless, and weak. It is a cruel, illogical monster. I suppose I should be grateful that you can't drown in fire like you can in freezing cold water. Fire is not completely harmless though, either. I have learned that playing too close to the flames will get you burned, but that's only if you believe it will. Lucky for me, I know that love doesn't exist.

_**Cause everything inside looks like...Everything I hate  
I'm on fire...Burning at these mysteries**_

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**Please offer advice on ways I can improve my writing! With the small amount of info given for this girl, I feel like I was making a new character. I hope she doesn't sound too Mary Sueish. Thank you for reading! ****Also, a special thanks to my reviewers from 'Losing My Religion'!**

**_Strawberry-fluff - Thank you for your review! I don't think I'm going to make a sequel to the 'Losing My Religion' shot but you will definitely see Caine and Diana again :)._**

**_Unlucky Word Shaker - Thank you! That was my first attempt at Diana so hopefully I'll get her voice down soon. I have no clue where the Justin Beiber answer came from. I think I was trying for a sarcastic angle yet it fell kinda flat. Oh well :). And thanks again-I was worried about the title but I guess I shouldn't be._**


	3. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

**Title:** Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star  
**Characters**: Sam/Astrid, Dekka/Brianna, Quinn/Lana, Caine/Diana, Orc, Britanny, and Drake  
**Summary:** "She sighed happily and watched the mock stars shimmer. She decided now was the best time to make a wish upon a star. _I wish this could last forever._" In the FAYZ world, stars are gazed upon, wished on, and crossed.  
**Rating/Warning: **K++ Some suggested content but it is never really expanded upon.  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the words to 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.' However, I did do my research and Jane Taylor wrote the poem which the song originated in the 1800s. For the particularly dim people, I am not Jane Taylor and I am not 200 years old. I'm not Michael Grant either so I didn't write the Gone series.  
**Authors Note: **This shot has been a work in progress for, ah, about two months. I was still rather new to the deeper characters so some of them may be a bit OOC. Especially Diana, so sorry. This is pretty long due to the fact that it's five shots rolled into one. If you don't like one set of characters, simply skip it. Some of the scenes may remind a few of you readers of one in particular in Tangled. I had just gotten back from the hundreth time of seeing the movie when I skimmed through this and was like "Oh my gosh! I stole from Walt Disney!' I didn't mean too, honestly, and I was just too lazy to go back and fix everything. If you don't know what I'm talking about, _go see Tangled!_

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_**Twinkle, twinkle, little star**_

Sam lowered his hands and let out a gusty breath. Despite the frigidness of the night, the boy was sweating from the scorching bright lights of his recently created Sammy Suns. He quickly wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to his companions. Quinn was already preparing the globes of light for the next step. He slipped the hot lamp into a waterproof case, fastened a thin line of fishing wire to the attached hook and cast the light across the water with a quick flick of his fishing pole. The lantern drifted lazily to the water and settled into it with a soft sigh. Quinn turned to Sam and was relieved to see that they had no more to do. He was a pro after the first few but once the numbers entered the double and even triple digits, the fisherman had become quite irritated. Hundreds of lights bobbed slightly in the calm water. Sam and Quinn appraised their work happily. Dekka was in charge of the third and final step. She stood up inside her boat and with a wide sweep of her hands, canceled all gravity for the already weightless orbs. They rose out of the water and continued quite a few feet up. The girl did not even look phased at the amount of gravity she was canceling. From the cliff, a collective gasp of wonder from the spectators rose just as high at the white lights. The ones in the boat smiled wanly at each other. The sheer effort of setting everything up had exhausted Sam, Quinn, and a few other helpers. The strain had yet to come to Dekka, who had the job of keeping the Sammy Suns in the air, but the freak knew it was going to happen eventually.

Sam thanked Dekka and the others who were staying and sat down heavily in his boat. "Take us back to Perdido Beach, please," he croaked in a dry voice.

Quinn nodded. "You don't need to ask me twice." The boy flipped on the motor and together the two friends made their way back to the makeshift docks they had created beforehand. The moment the boat came into closer contact of the cliff, the purr of the motor was completely drowned out by the claps and shouts from the kids watching the show. Quinn jumped out of the boat and tied it securely to the post and Sam stepped onto the dock. They walked in a tired silence up the cliff. Sam spotted where Astrid and the others were camped out and made a beeline towards them. A few people spotted the leader of Perdido Beach and clapped louder. Sam smiled modestly before collapsing onto the blanket the blonde had stretched out. He looked across the water at his handiwork and gasped. Once Dekka had lifted the lanterns into the air, they truly looked beautiful and just like the blurry stars in his memory. Since the fall of the wall, Sam had almost forgotten what the stars had looked like. These copy-cats didn't have any particular shape or pattern but they were numerous and bright.

"They look absolutely amazing, Sam," Astrid breathed. The girl unclasped her hands and placed one warmly onto Sam's. The boy glanced at the girl beside him and smiled. With a slight reluctance, he tore his gaze from the lights and Astrid and looked to see who else was there with him.

Edilio sat a foot or two away and had a wide smile plastered onto his face. His eyes were completely glued to the dark sky and for once the soldier was able to relax— no worry lines were visible on his face. Sam wondered if the Honduran had even noticed that he had arrived. Albert was a few blankets away with a pure smile on his face. The calculating look and narrow eyes were gone, replaced with a genuine expression of happiness. Sam never thought he had ever seen the business man looking so open. John Terrafino was finally able to take a breather as all the prees in his care stared at the show with gaping mouths and were, for the first time in forever, frozen in place. Sam saw freaks and normals alike sharing blankets and whatever hodgepodge of food they managed to stock in their picnic baskets. He looked around for Quinn and frowned slightly.

Astrid noticed his searching and scooted closer to the boy. "Quinn said he was going to Lana's. He had a few burns from dealing with your Suns." It made sense him. While first getting the hang of the ropes, Quinn and he both had some trying times. Sam suppressed a smile at one particular incident. "But this really is marvelous," the genius continued. "I can't believe you managed to do all of this in such a small period of time. It's so beautiful."

Sam's smile grew and he stealthily attempted the 'yawn' trick. He lightly pulled his hand from Astrid's grasp and slowly put that arm around her shoulders. The girl curled into his embrace and lightly kissed the boy's cheek. Sam buried his face into the girl's sweet smelling hair, sighed happily, and stared across the water at the floating orbs. Everything was so peaceful and serene. No fighting. No hunger. No enemies. _I wish there is always peace like this in the FAYZ_. Sam thought, picking one particularly bright ball and wishing on it.

Astrid smiled dreamily as she leaned against Sam's chest. With a free hand, she absently ran her fingers through Little Pete's fluffy hair. Her younger brother seemed to briefly break away from his trance and watched the lights as they rose into the sky. He still remained transfixed with the slight bob they had, even after the lights had reached their maximum height. A reverent silence descended upon the crowd as they all reminisced about their life in the FAYZ. The blonde genius heard Sam's steady and calm heartbeat through his shirt and a content smile flickered across her face. He had been so terrified when the FAYZ started. She too had panicked and almost lost her mind throughout the beginning of the FAYZ. This recent campaign with the Human Crew also tested her resolve quite viciously. _Budum. Budum. _Sam's heartbeat echoed slightly around the girl. Somehow she had managed to hold on in this radioactive prison. Astrid knew the prices she paid—the death of friends, countless moments of torture and fear, aching hunger, and rough tension—and often times the girl wondered how she could still be willing to go on. _Budum. Budum. _Despite the pain she suffered, the girl was grateful for the FAYZ. For the first time she was independent and strong. After the first few months, Astrid had gotten over the fact of the missing adults. No parents and teachers and no grades took a substantial amount of stress from her life. Now, certainly flesh eating worms and sadistic demons were slightly more dangerous than an overdue book report, but the girl had managed to adapt.

Astrid felt Sam softly nuzzle her head and her smile widened. Without the FAYZ she never would have met or gotten to know him. It felt blasphemous of her to think this, but Astrid was almost grateful for the prison they were trapped within. Even though many innocent children had died by the Darkness and its followers, everything seemed to be calm for once. _Budum. Budum._ The girl curled closer into Sam. She glanced out across the water and felt her heart vibrate in harmony with Sam's. She sighed happily and watched the mock stars shimmer. She decided now was the best time to make a wish upon a star. _I wish this could last forever._

_**How I wonder what you are!**_

It had already been fifteen minutes and Dekka's arms were starting to ache. Just holding her hands up in the air had sounded like a joke an hour before. Sam had even given her a full day of rest beforehand plus quite a lot of food for fuel. Still, months of battering made her arms weaker than they normally were. She was sitting rather comfortably in a padded seat, watching a beautiful show that she had helped create. Hunger did not gnaw in her belly for once. Everything was perfect except for one little detail…

Dekka could not feel her fingers.

The girl took a deep breath and glanced beside her. Even the company she had could not have been better. Brianna was sitting in the same boat as her with a joyful smile. When she heard of the plan Dekka, Sam, and the others had planned up, she instantly volunteered to keep Dekka company out on the water. No one, least of all Dekka, argued. Every so often brief flashes of awe crossed the Breeze's face, disappearing far too quickly in Dekka's opinion. The girl would jerk her head so sharply to catch the many different views that her pigtails would explode in orange bursts a second after the head had come to a jolting stop. Dekka smiled ruefully to herself at the girl's glee and turned back to her job.

"This is really awesome, what you and Sam did." Brianna's voice was quiet and lacked her usual blustery tone.

Dekka looked over her shoulder at her boat mate. "Yeah?"

Brianna nodded quickly. "Yeah." She glanced up at the stars and sighed. "I've never seen anything so beautiful."

Dekka raised an eyebrow. "These aren't that different from the stars that were here before the FAYZ. Just a little bit brighter and a little bit more. You could always get the best views from the windows at Coates's."

"My dorm didn't have a window."

"Ahh." Dekka stared up at the floating balls of light. Her arms were getting quite sore now and her nose was itching slightly. She managed to fix that ache by rubbing her nose into her shoulder. Half of the lights lost some of their height until Dekka reclaimed their gravity. Brianna smirked at her.

"Nothing happened," Dekka told her, smiling a little. "They're too light to completely fall in a second."

Brianna shook her head at normal speed. "I didn't say anything."

The two sat in silence for a few moments until Dekka's arm cramped even worse. She had withstood cementing, mutated coyotes, and Human Crew leaders, but this sharp prick by her biceps was threatening to drive her insane. She sighed loudly and rubbed her face against her biceps again, trying to get some feeling into her numb arms.

Brianna watched her with a sympathetic look on her face. "It is helping any?"

Dekka grunted in reply. She was about to say something when a warm hand wrapped around her wrist. It held up the arm enough for the freak to rest her aching muscles while still being able to control the globes' gravity. The jolt of the warm flesh caused the girl to jump. Instantly her arm was awake, little currents traveling up and down, zapping every skin pore. She looked at Brianna and blinked.

The Breeze smiled warmly at her. "Does this make your arm feel any better?"

Dekka nodded slowly. It made not just her arm, but her entire body feel a lot better. "Thank you," she added quickly.

"No problem. It's the least I can do." Brianna shrugged. With her free hand, the girl swept the sky with a wide gesture. "Thank you for doing this." She looked back at Dekka. "Do you think you can hold it for a full hour and a half more?"

"I don't know." Dekka shrugged slightly. "Maybe."

A larger smile grew across The Breeze's face. "What if I help you out the entire time?"

_I would be able to hold my arms up forever then. _Dekka smiled a little at the girl beside her. "Then I'm pretty sure I can manage. You don't have to though. If your arms get tired, you can always quit."

Brianna made a face. "The Breeze _never_ backs away from a challenge! I bet I could keep your arm in the air even if you were fighting me!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!" And so the battle began. Dekka tried to pull her arm down while Brianna pushed it back up with the grunt. There the two struggled for a moment, Dekka with the upper hand. She nearly had her hand touching the bench they were sharing when she let Brianna win. She slacked the tension in her arm and the speedster practically threw it back into the air. The struggle had resulted in something that looked like a backwards meteor shower. The half of the lights that were under control of Dekka's one side had drifted significantly lower than the other portion of globes. When Brianna got Dekka's hand back to its right height, the lowered Sammy Suns sped across the sky with blurry tails of light following them. Loud awes erupted from the watching crowd on the cliff.

Brianna sat down heavily on the wooden bench. "I won," she breathed. Their little struggle had left both girls breathless.

Dekka turned back to the floating orbs and smiled to herself. "I guess you did. I guess you did," she murmured. Brianna's warm grip still sent electric shots through her aching body. She looked over at the girl quickly.

The Breeze seemed to have settled down from their past bet and was now gazing at the sky in pure wonder again. The stars reflected on her face and shone brightly in her eyes. Dekka's heart gave a painful shudder. _She looks so beautiful… She would never want me._ The girl's eyes drifted from Brianna and her happy smile to across the water. Just out of reach of Dekka's antigravity net, one Sammy Sun had drifted on the faint air current above them and was gaining its little gravity back. It slowly fluttered down, similar to how a sheet of thin paper would. Dekka watched its slow journey and sighed softly. What could be better than wishing on a falling star? _I wish she could be mine._

_**Up above the world so high**_

Lana's grip on the balcony's edge tightened enough to where it almost hurt her. She let all the pent up air in her lungs out through her nose. It swirled around in a frosty cloud before dissipating in the frigid air. Along with that breath went her energy. The girl just stood on her balcony window and watched as the lights slowly rose into the sky. She was too stubborn to get a coat even though it was freezing. A few questions nagged in the back of her mind but she savagely fought them away. After healing three stubbed toes, an accidental gunshot wound, one hooked eye, two broken bones, and a nasty fire burn, the Healer was in no mood to be messed with. That included her own thoughts.

Instead of dwelling on unhappy subjects, the girl allowed her mind to reflect on the positive thoughts of the FAYZ. She was distressed to find there were much fewer pleasant things than negatives. By the time the glowing orbs had reached their maximum height, she was out of topics. _Alright. I've thought about Patrick, these stars, and a few people. What else am I happy about?_ The girl drew a blank. She bit her bottom lip. That was not good. _What about the joy a person gets when I take away all of their pain?_ This made her feel more exhausted and slightly cheated. Since her powers had become more public, she was no longer a person. She was a very valuable idol that without her healing ability she'd have been lynched for 'war crimes' with the Gaiaphage. _I feel like the Golden Calf. Sooner or later, Moses is gunna come down and blast me apart._ The girl gritted her teeth. _What a lovely comparison._ Against her will, Lana was thinking negative thoughts again. Her nails dug deep into her skin—enough, the girl was positive, to draw blood.

_Would it have been better if the car wreck had killed me a year ago?_ The girl stared blankly across the water. She wouldn't be constantly harassed by ungrateful and demanding children. Speaking of which, a tentative knocking sounded at her door. Patrick rose slightly, sniffed the air, barked once, and then settled back into his comfortable position. Lana glared at him as she made her way to the door.

"Someone better be dying or I _am_ going to kill them." Lana shouted at the door. "If you aren't mortally wounded, go away!" No answer. The girl sighed and grabbed the doorknob. Her palms stung from her nail inflicted cuts but she didn't bother to heal them. Lana swung the door to reveal a sheepish looking Quinn. She looked at him flatly. "Are you dying?"

The boy shook his head. Lana thought he looked a little bit flustered. She narrowed her eyes.

"What's hurt?" she demanded. Quinn looked blankly at her. "Are you even hurt?"

Quinn was silent for a few seconds before responding. "No…not really."

Lana stifled an exasperated sigh. "Then _who_ is?"

"No one. I don't think." Quinn looked faintly confused. "I came here to visit you. Mind if I come in?"

It was Lana's turn to be stumped. Someone coming to just visit her? It hardly happened. Least of all, she suspected Quinn to come. After all, she had pulled a gun on him a few weeks ago. Things like that usually screamed 'Wacko' to guys. "Um, sure." She opened the door further and backed up.

Quinn smiled a small smile and slipped into the room. Patrick looked up, wagged his tail briefly, and then went back to snoozing. "I brought some food as well…" The boy said, lifting up a worn picnic basket.

Lana looked at it and felt her stomach growl. Both of them heard it and both looked embarrassed. "That's great," she said lamely. She led the fisherman out to the balcony and dragged over two beat up Adirondack chairs. Quinn dug into the basket and offered Lana something. She accepted it with a smile. The two sat in a cool silence. Lana shivered slightly, having found a comfortable position and not wanting to lose it by getting up. Quinn glanced at the Healer and shrugged off his own jacket.

"Do you want it?"

Lana bit her lip again. "I don't need it," she told him. "Besides, you need it for yourself."

Quinn grinned lopsidedly at her. "I'm fine. Actually, I'm burning up. I was under the spotlight for quite a while."

Lana figured he meant he had helped somewhere in the construction of the starry illusion right in front of them. She smiled and let Quinn drape the still warm jacket across her bare shoulders and chest. The two watched the lamps glitter in the cold sky in a comfortable silence. Finally, Lana broke it.

"Why _did_ you come up here to visit me?" She asked him.

Quinn thought for a moment. "Well, several reasons. One, I figured this place had the best view." The fisherman was right. The cliff was a great place to watch the stars—it was high, grassy, and easily accessible. But Clifftop was better than the cliff. Its height was more than the lower cliff and the lights seemed bigger and brighter. Some lights were so close, Lana was almost positive she could reach out and touch them. "Second," Quinn continued, "everyone was crowded down there so I definitely wouldn't be able to find a spot…plus it was really noisy." Up on Clifftop, the only sounds were Patrick's soft snuffling and the teens' voices. "Third, everyone down there had a friend or, you know, a close friend. I felt kinda lonely and, uh, wondered if you were just as lonely." He looked down at his burnt hands. He had another reason for visiting but after Lana's small rant at the beginning, he decided it best not to mention his second-degree burns. Quinn grimaced and he closed his hands into fists. That particular Sammy Sun had been extremely painful—the fact that it was his first try didn't make things better either.

At first the girl didn't know what to say. She stared out at the twinkling lights in front of them and thought for a few moments. Quinn took her silence as rejection. Then Lana smiled warmly at the boy. "I'm glad you came, Quinn."

The boy perked up. "Really?"

"Yeah. I'm really glad to have the company." Somewhere in a boat two freaks were squabbling over an arm and the glowing orbs shot across the sky. Both Lana and Quinn jumped to their feet and rushed to the railing. Two pairs of hands wrapped around the cool railing and two breaths were caught in two different throats. Lana felt her anger about the Gaiaphage and all the thankless healings slip away and she let a warm glow rise within her. She decided to let her childish whims break free and made a wish. _I wish, for once, people could stop seeing me as a traitor or the Healer, and see me as Lana Arwen Lazar._

Quinn's mouth was slightly open as he looked at the sight above him. Every so often, his breath would come out in tiny 'whooshes' of swirling mist. He didn't know what Dekka was doing down there, but it certainly made the show more amazing for the spectators. His burning hands were relieved by the cool balcony metal and everything seemed at peace. The fisherman slowly swept his head across the ocean to get in the sight of all of the backwards shooting stars. With his panning view, the boy saw Lana's barely suppressed joy, Patrick's snoring form, and his picnic basket. A cold sense of dread filled his bones. _Was she only happy to see me because I had food? _He remembered the way her stomach growled when he mention he had food. Instantly some of the boy's elation deflated. _I wish that I'm not just the kid who betrayed Sam or the weird fisherman in the hats. I wish I can be Quinn Gaither again._

The boy glanced at Lana beside him and caught her eye. Slowly he moved his scalded hand and placed it lightly over Lana's cut hand. He could tell in the pale glow that the girl flushed at his touch. He braced himself for her angry push away but it didn't come. Her hand turned underneath his so that they were genuinely holding hands. A warm glow formed in between the two palms. Lana thought it was healing her own minor cuts when she felt some of the warmth flow to Quinn. She looked at him with slightly accusing eyes.

"You _were_ hurt!" She frowned and went to pull her hand away.

In a daring act of bravery, Quinn squeezed her warm hand tighter—too tight for her to jerk it away. "I didn't bring it up because I didn't think it really mattered to you, Lana. Why would I come all the way up here to complain about a little burn?" The boy paused for a moment. "Did you enjoy the food?" he asked sullenly.

Lana relaxed her hand and allowed Quinn to hold it again. "Actually, I enjoyed your company more, Quinn." She squeezed his hand. Quinn looked rather happy at her answer. He looked up at the stars which, by then, had settled then and whispered something inaudible. He turned back to Lana and smiled sheepishly. She returned the smile with a sheepish grin of her own and the two spent the rest of their time in a cool but comfortable silence. Their hands, still clasped tightly together, were healed from all burns and bloody cuts. And in their little place above the others, the two felt their hearts flutter happily at their wishes come true.

_**Like a diamond in the sky!**_

Caine sulked through the mansion with a grim expression on his face. Lately everything about this new home seemed cold: Diana's wintry looks at him, the cool floor and rooms, and the frigid water hiding the two from civilization. Currently the telepath was investigating the icy draft that had seemed to have sprung up suddenly.

"Stupid Bug… He always leaves the windows open. Don't know why he can't walk out the front door like the rest of us." Caine muttered, kicking a stray bouncy ball down the hall. He hadn't even been in this part of the house but he guessed he was somewhere by the place where the younger kids had lived. He bristled slightly at the memory of them escaping in their helicopter. "He leaves the window open and I have to go find it and close it," he growled. He reached the bouncy ball again and kicked it savagely. Caine watched it go until it tumbled gently towards a jarred door at the end of the hallway. The boy frowned slightly and made his way to the toy. He bent down to pick it up and felt the icy breeze come from the crack in the door. Caine smiled ruefully and straightened up. He pushed the door open, slipped inside, and blindly flipped on the switch. Nothing happened._ Of course. No power. _He pulled an emergency flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on. The boy swung the flashlight around cautiously, the yellow arc of light casting weird shadows on the walls. He was clearly in a child's room. Rocket ships were suspended from thin lines across the ceiling. The walls were covered in planets and other astronomical things, painted in the highest detail. The ceiling was pitch black. Caine thought there was something stuck to the ceiling but he couldn't quite make it out. Regardless, the boy smiled faintly. No doubt this was the youngest boy's room. The one Sanjit had said was sick. When he was that boy's age, Caine himself had always wanted a space themed room. Astronauts and aliens had always fascinated the boy but his 'parents' refused to let their 'son' be tainted by conspiracies. Mr. Sorren was always suspicious of anything unnatural…especially when it came to Caine. After all, that was partly why he was sent to Coates. The boy grimaced and crossed to the window in the room. Just as he thought, the window was cracked enough to let the sea breeze through. He slammed the window hard enough for it to rattle the other panes. He brushed his hands together and made his way back to the door. He flipped off the lights subconsciously and paused.

There was an eerie glow behind him. He flicked off the flashlight and turned slowly, hands at the ready. He almost laughed out loud at what had caused his heart to jump. The past occupant of that room had stuck glow in the dark stars to the ceiling and they were currently shining very brightly. For the first time since landing at the island, Caine felt an odd sense of happiness fill his body. A tentative smile flickered across his face and suddenly the boy was six years old. He leaned against the door frame and drank in the sight of the plastic stars hungrily. Flashes of his childhood darted through his mind. _He was begging his 'parents' to buy him just one pack of those stars to put on his ceiling. They refused, not wanting to leave a mark on the boy's ceiling, and Caine had thrown a huge fit_. He rubbed his face absently. _Mr. Sorren was not pleased_. Caine glanced back up at the ceiling. Already to his dismay the lights were fading. The boy frowned and slipped out of the room. He was halfway down the dark hallway before inspiration struck him. The boy's eyes widened, he jumped, and he turned and ran back to the little boy's space themed room.

_So Snow White woke from Prince Charming's true loves kiss. _Diana slammed the book she was reading and tossed it disgustedly aside. "And they lived happily freaking ever after!" she snarled. She stared balefully at the fairytale book. She had hoped reading a book meant for young children would cheer her up but it did everything but. It just reminded her on how messed up _real_ life was. She suddenly felt a very strange yet painful yearning to be the princess. Determined to make the best of her awful situation, Diana stood up and grabbed the cashmere throw beside her and draped it around her like a fancy dress. If she closed her eyes and moved fast enough, she could feel her make-believe dress swirling around her like a beautiful ball gown. Diana was thrown back a few years and she was in the age where a Prince Charming was just waiting at the ball and your fairy godmother was ready to take you there in a gorgeous outfit. The girl sighed and more daydreams from kindergarten filled her head. The girl twirled a bit more in her makeshift gown when she heard frantic footsteps echoing down the hall.

"Diana! Diana!" Caine's voice was labored as if he had been running for a while.

Diana let the soft blanket fall off her shoulders and pool around her feet. She opened her eyes and stared crossly at Caine. "What do you want, O Fearless Leader?"

The boy's eyes were unnaturally wide and very alive. "Come here. I have to show you something!" He made a desperate grab for her hand.

She pulled her hand away and scowled at the boy. "What's wrong with you, Caine?"

"Nothing's wrong with me! Come on!" He reached for her hand again but she moved it just as quickly away. "Stop being immature. Come on! Follow me!"

Diana looked at him as if he were crazy. "Are you _high_? _I'm_ the one being immature? You look like a toddler in a toy shop."

Caine gave her a mysterious smile. "Well, maybe I am."

"What are you talking about, Sorren?" she snapped, narrowing her eyes at the boy. His excited manner had still not faded.

"Just follow me. You'll love it. Trust me." Third time was the charm and Caine finally managed to snag the girl's hand.

"You said that about this island. 'Trust me, Diana. I promise you'll love it!'" The girl wrinkled her nose at the boy. "Well, you lied." Still, she let the boy drag her to wherever he wanted to take her. He led her down several hallways and down a dark corridor she had never seen before. "Where are you taking me? I can scream and someone will come help me."

Caine looked slightly annoyed at the girl's continual chatter. He also looked slightly amused at the last thing she had said. "Who's going to help you? Bug and Penny are terrified of me and they are the only ones on the island. Unless you think you can call to the porpoises, Diana, you have no one except for me to protect you."

Diana bit her lip. _I hate him and his stupid logic._ "I happen to have many friends in the ocean. I visit them every day, just to let you know. _They _would come to my aid."

Caine rolled his eyes. "I bet."

"Are we almost there then?" Diana asked, deciding to change the subject.

The boy was suddenly as eager as a beaver again. "Just through this door." He all but yanked the door off its hinges and pulled her inside.

"Well, you get an 'A' for effort. The set up is nice...I guess. If you're into flashlights instead of candles and rose petals." All around the kid's room were flashlights propped up, illuminating the room with a yellow light. Caine made a face and pushed her towards the tiny bed he had shoved in the middle of the room.

The moment the girl saw the entire set up, she shook her head frantically. "Oh _no._ I am _not_ doing _that_ with you. You may have saved my life but there is no way—"

"Diana."

"_Especially_ not on—what is that…_rocket ship _sheets?Gee, Caine. You've sunk to a new low."

"Diana!"

"I guess we _have_ been through a lot but still. Don't you think you should wait a little bit longer? And what about protection?"

"It isn't what you think it is!"

"I mean, is this really the place to bring up ki—Wait… What?"

Caine sighed loudly and smoothed down his hair. "If you will please be quiet for _one moment_ I will explain what I mean." Diana made a big show of clamping down on her lips and looking rather somber. Caine gritted his teeth and thought over what she had been rattling on about. "If that is what you spend your days thinking about, then you have problems."

Diana frowned at the boy and sniffed. "No…it's not. You just sent some very strong signals there." Caine glared at her.

"Let's keep it PG, Diana. _Anyway_, back on track, I want to show you something. Sit right there on the bed and close your eyes." Diana sat on the bed, made herself comfortable, and stared at Caine. He made little circle hand motions around his eyes. Diana nodded and closed her eyes. The girl heard clicking noises of all the flashlights being turned off. A sudden jump and shift of pressure on the tiny bed told Diana that Caine was sitting rather close to her.

"Open your eyes," he said in a thick voice, clouded by some undistinguishable emotion. Diana slowly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the darkness. A greenish glow drew her attention first. She looked up at the ceiling and gasped. Hundreds of little plastic stars were attached to the dark ceiling by many different methods. Tape, glue, wax, you name it. Her eyes adjusted more and the girl noticed that the walls were also speckled with glowing stars. Everywhere she looked was bathed in the same greenish light from the stars. More gasps escaped her mouth. Caine wasn't lying when she said she would love it. She glanced beside her and was able to make out Caine's faint outline from the pale glow. His eyes were wide open and a childish smile, very out of place, was stretched across his face. He looked so happy to be among the stars and lights. For a moment, Diana was almost positive there was nothing as beautiful as the boy's bright face. He looked so innocent and pure for once—definitely not the one to have sent mutant coyotes and a whip-handed demon on helpless children. She glanced over at him again and noticed she caught him smiling at her.

"Do you like it?" Caine asked, happiness and eagerness bubbling out of his throat. He did not sound like the cold-hearted boy who almost sent an entire family to their deaths. Diana nodded, a small smile on her face. He scooted closer to the girl and raised an arm. "Watch this," he told her. In one quick jerk of the wrist, an entire panel of the roof broke free and shot across the room in a blaze similar to a shooting star. Caine grinned at hearing Diana's breath leave her throat. He was acting like a silly, juvenile child, but for once he didn't care. There was no one to impress on this island except for Diana. _I seem, _he thought smugly, _to be doing a rather good job._ He looked over at her thin face and felt his heart thud loudly in his chest. He was never good with those of the opposite gender and this display he had set up practically sapped all of his creative juices and his nerves. But it was worth it.

The glow reflected subtly off of her pale skin and made her brittle hair shine slightly. Her eyes were alive with a light that Caine hadn't seen since before the FAYZ wall had fallen. But the best thing about Diana, Caine noted, was her smile. It was far from perfect but Caine had never seen anything so genuine before. His heart thudded more painfully. She never smiled at him in that way. It was always a calculating, sarcastic smirk for Caine Sorren. Never an actual smile from the Ice Queen. He could barely believe he had caught the elusive Diana Ladris smile. He sent another 'shooting star' across the room and decided to do the ultimate childish thing—wish on it. Caine looked over at Diana before making his final choice. _I wish I can see Diana's smile for the rest of my life. _A hardly logical request, Caine reasoned. _But the best things never are. _

The entire thing Caine had set up was amazing. Diana could still not believe what he had done. It must have taken hours to put up each star. There were plastic pieces dotting the floor to ones in the very furthest corner in the ceiling. Diana stole another long look at Caine. Even though this was one of the best things she had ever known the boy to do, like all good things, she knew it had to end sometime. _Better take as many memories as I can._ Just the fact that he had abandoned his cold, cruel shell shocked the girl the most. It felt almost weird to see Caine without his 'ulterior motive mask' on. Unlike the citizens at Perdido Beach on the first few days of the FAYZ, Diana knew the raw, joyful emotions on Caine's face were not faked or acted. They were real. It almost scared to girl to see the boy so striped down by a few chemically treated sheets of plastic and her company.

A light tapping broke the girl from her thoughts. She jumped and looked at Caine. In the fading glow of the stars, she could see he was holding a small box. He offered it to her and she took it warily.

"I hope this isn't a marriage ring, Caine. I may have to call my sea friends on you," Diana warned half-heartedly.

Caine smiled weakly. "No. Don't worry. It isn't one. You don't have to call your sea friends." He looked slightly uncomfortable. His awkwardness with girls was starting to show through again. "It's just something to maybe remember this night by."

"Why would I want to remember it?" Diana asked almost automatically. Caine was silent. She pulled off the cold lid and suppressed a gasp. A thin silver chain was wrapped haphazardly in a circle. Attached to the linking part of the chain was a diamond star. Diana lifted it out and held it against her neck. The glow from the stars had almost completely faded. All the girl could see was Caine's shadow and the glittering necklace.

"I hope you wake up from this Prince Charming dream sometime soon," she told the boy. "It's starting to make me a little nervous. I'm sorry to say, but I kinda miss sociopath Caine Sorren." Diana felt a warm, fuzzy feeling rise in her stomach. She tried to get rid of it but after a while, decided it could stay. She remembered Caine's boyish expression while watching the fake stars glow. _I wish he would stay that innocent and kind forever._

Caine scowled at her comment. "A simple 'thanks' would be sufficient."

Diana went as if to put the necklace on. "Where ever did you get such a lovely looking piece of jewelry, Caine?"

"Out of Jennifer Brattle's jewelry safe. She has enough there to feed a third world county for a year."

Diana paused in putting on the necklace. _I guess some things never change._ She shrugged and put it on anyway.

"Thank you, Caine."

The girl thought she saw a flash of white in the darkness. "You're welcome, Diana."

_**Twinkle, twinkle, little star**_

"I wish to return to my master and kill you all! I, with the aid of my master, will rip you into pieces. I wish for the ideas on how to kill you in the most agonizing deaths. Already I have Temple's, Sorren's and the wetback's death planned. Free me now and I will make your death mostly painless! I wish to have a pointed spike and a garden hose to…"

Orc rolled his eyes, one of the few parts on his exterior that made him still somewhat human. The threats from the demon tonight were particularly imaginative. He must've gotten his wish for more creative threats. The disfigured freak sauntered to the severely sagging couch and all but threw himself on it. It creaked loudly under his weight and the former bully sighed. He twisted and tossed on the couch but was unable to make himself comfortable. The demon's continuous screaming and howling was now starting to get on Orc's nerves. Normally it wasn't so _loud._ Orc let out a loud bellow, hoping it would frighten the demon into silence.

It did pretty much the opposite. Drake paused in his threats for a moment before screaming twice as loud. His violent suggestions harmonized with his continuous promises of death in a symphony that could, quite possibly, kill an entire nest of Zekes. And Orc knew firsthand how strong the Zekes could be. He rolled off the couch and trudged towards the window. His leaned out and adjusted his eyes in the pitch black night. Howard had left an hour ago and made Orc promise he'd look out the window sometime soon. Howard had his trademark smirk on and was muttering about making a profit from Sammy-boy and something that would be ridiculously hopeful and happy. Orc didn't know what that meant and Orc quite frankly didn't care. There were few times when Orc was truly happy.

Because of this, the boy didn't recognize the light, fluttering feelings in his chest when suddenly the sky was filled with bright lights. He thought he was dying and the white lights were Heaven. It took the boy a few moments of slow thinking to realize he was not in fact dead and instead what he was seeing were hundreds of orbs floating in the air. The boy knew there were no stars in the FAYZ so where did these come from? Had Orc been more of a thinker, he would have wondered about their makeup and purpose. But Orc wasn't going to waste time wondering what these lights were when he could spend it instead on watching the stars. Oddly enough, the lights had inspired the boy to be in a creative mood. He pushed the pathetic couch by the window and was finally able to make himself comfortable and still have a view of the glowing orbs. He stared up at the lights and felt a warm feeling enter his heart. He decided to ponder about this feeling first.

_It's a …warm feeling. It feels like…like, _Orc paused in his thinking. _It feels like what happens when I drink a beer…_ The rock monster shook his head to himself. _But I don't feel dizzy afterwards. It's like d—_

"I will kill you all!"

Orc frowned. The creature in his basement had driven him off rail. He decided to pick up his ponderings with another topic. _The lights. They're so bright. Like…teeth?_ Orc made a face but continued on the thought. _Not teeth. Teeth are yellow from no toothpaste… It's caused by food. Food? _Orc stopped instantly on that thought strand when he realized not only was there no more toothpaste in the FAYZ but also no food. _Teeth are just yel—_

"All those who have kept me in this prison will die horrible and grisly deaths! Especially you, Temple!"

Orc sent another sour glare at the basement door and tried another outlet for his thoughts. Speaking of Sam, Orc's uncannily metaphorical mind drifted to think about the people in the FAYZ, starting from the fall of the wall. He still felt a wave of regret when his thoughts swerved to Bette and the first few days of the FAYZ. He quickly changed and wondered about the current people of the FAYZ. When it came to Sam and Edilio, Orc had very few complaints. _Sam is very nice,_ Orc thought slowly, remembering how he and the town leader had not been too friendly with each other at the beginning. _Edilio is very nice too. Astrid is very smart and pretty. _Orc tilted his head and looked at the stars. _The stars are pretty like Astrid. _Orc would never admit that he was smitten with the blonde genius but she was perhaps the first person, other than Howard, to actually see him for an actual human being instead of a heartless bully or gigantic rock creature. Howard also respected and treated Orc like a friend. _Howard is smart too. _Orc rumbled in his mind. _But he can be…not nice to people._ The boy started to wonder on why Howard was always so cold and snarky to others. _Maybe he's…scared. Scared of being hurt? _Orc blinked. _Maybe he's scared of being called soft?_ He suppressed a wan smile. _Howard can be soft. I don't know why he helped the girl when she wa—_

"Yes! And after I've ripped off every toe, I shall eat every finger!"

Orc blinked at the basement door. What had Drake been screaming about again? While thinking, he had completely forgotten where he was. He glanced slowly back at the sky and wondered what the lights were made of. Despite his original plan to _not_ question that fact, Orc slowly began to ponder. _They could be made of really big fireflies. _Orc squinted at the sky. _Really, _really_ big fireflies. Or maybe really little ro—_

"Next I will pluck out your eyeballs and set them on fire!"

_But what if Dekka is there? She can make things float. _Orc tilted his head, slowly getting it. _Floating candles? Or floating ar—_

"No! If you have no eyeballs, you can't see the pain you are going through. No! The eyeballs will be set on fire last."

Orc gritted his thick teeth and forced himself back on track. After a few more stop-start ramblings caused mainly by interruptions from Drake, Orc had a plausible explanation in his mind. He glanced over at the Sammy Sun burning in the corner of the room. _Maybe Dekka is floating all of Sam's lights in the air…because they look like stars and to make people happy._ He compared the solitary Sammy Sun in his room to the hundreds bobbing in the sky. _That's a lot of lights…_ Howard _had_ said something about Sam helping out somehow. Orc was pretty sure he had everything worked out some degree and was running it through on last time.

_Sam created a lot of Sammy Suns and u—_

"What should I do about the ears? I wish my master would fill me with knowledge on how to kill you all!"

_Dekka is making the lights float a—_

"Yes! I shall save the ears second to last so they can hear their screams!"

_Astrid and Howard probably helped come up with the plan be—_

"I will whip you until bone shows!"

_And they did this to make people feel…ha—_

"I will kill you all!"

Finally Orc's metaphoric phase and patience broke. He surged to his feet and stalked to the basement door. He ripped the door almost off its hinges and bellowed down into the dark basement. "I wish you would just shut up!" The monster was quiet for a moment and suddenly Brittany's soft crying could be heard. Orc nodded firmly and cast one last look up at the stars. He went to close the door again but paused. _I wish Brittany would be able to see these lights. _He imagined the girl curled up on the floor, crying for someone to just kill her. _Maybe she can be happy then. _Orc knew that Sam and Howard had warned him that he shouldn't ever leave the basement door open in the case that Drake could escape if he morphed back. But the boy somehow felt that Drake wouldn't get the chance to reappear that night. He cast one more happy glance at the mock stars and sauntered off to bed.

Brittany stopped her cries and waited in the dark silence for the basement door to close. She had been suddenly pulled back into control of the body she and the demon shared rather unexpectedly. And unlike the usual times she took control, the demon was not fighting her back for direct command. He was, to phrase it simply, very silent. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and the girl could sense something bright was above her. She slowly uncurled from her fetal position and wandered to the edge of her prison. Wrapping thin hands around the wooden bars, the girl stared up with gaping mouth at the spectacle. It seemed that Heaven itself was alight with stars. Teeth covered with dirt speckled braces slowly curved into a smile. Brittany allowed herself time to stop screaming for death and decided to enjoy this miracle. After all, she would definitely have loved seeing this when she was alive and not yet God's worker. The girl sighed happily and tried to forget her troubles with the demon, the Darkness, avenging her brother, and her strong distaste for Caine and Diana. She had just about succeeded and was currently praying to God for guidance and assistance. At the end of her prayer, instead of ending it with pleas for death, she used a different ending. _I wish…that the people of Perdido Beach with have the stars watching over them tonight and that they will reach Tanner up with you…in Heaven. _Brittany spent the rest of the night watching the stars slowly drift higher and higher until she could not see them anymore. Somehow the girl knew the little stars reached her brother.

_**How I wonder what you are!**_

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**Oh man, if you guys were able to read that all in one sitting, I applaud you. It was pretty long. Thank you for even bothering to read this. As always, please submit suggestions if you have any for me. I want to be the best authoress I can be and I can only get that far with constructive criticism. Again, I apologize for OOCness. Finally, before you guys just completely lose your eyeballs, I have a favor to ask. I had so much fun with 'On Fire' and a completely hidden character that I want to do it again. If you would be so kind to leave a review with an outrageously ridiculous pairing, I'd love to take a swing at mastering it. Thank you also to all of my reviewers and subscribers!**

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_thesmokelives - Honestly, I don't know if Bug is dead or alive either D:. I hope he is 'cause I love his character so much and he's so useful. Thank you for the review!_

_Unlucky Word Shaker - Thanks for pointing out the 'bitterer' mistake (**cricket cricket**). My goal in writing is to make weird pairings work. I'd especially love to see a suggestion from you. Thank you very much for the review!_

_princessozmaofoz - Thank you for the review! I am a big Quinn/Lana shipper so you will definitely see more of them in the future!_


	4. Bury Me Alive

**Title: **Bury Me Alive  
**Characters**: Edilio/Ellen and Sam  
**Summary:** "They were terrified of being buried alive, cold and heartless before their time and leaving behind nothing but an empty corpse in a grave, the earth and dirt smothering them until they simply gave up."  
**Rating/Warning: **K+  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own the song Bury Me Alive by We Are The Fallen and I don't own the Gone Series by Michael Grant. If I did own the Gone series, there would be a whole lot more Edilio/Ellen angst and a lot less Sam/Astrid angst.  
**Authors Note: **If you haven't read 'On Fire' yet, that would probably be a good thing to do to catch up. I absolutely adore Edilio/Ellen and so far, I'm the only person in fan fiction to ship them. And believe me, I've looked o.O. This occurs after 'On Fire' and is a sort of sequel. Edilio may be a little out of character...but he's supposed to be. He's kinda insane in this shot.

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_**You bury me alive...And everybody's got to breathe somehow**_

The occupants of the room were a sad looking bunch. None of the clothes looked wearable again and every expression was either pained or blank. Even Albert, who usually squirmed out of any chance to be in physical danger, looked exhausted and beaten. The kids present were all of the council members and a few other high ranking officials. Not even a few hours ago everyone in that room had aided in one way at the latest battle against a suspiciously freed Drake and the pathetic remains of the Human Crew. Drake was missing again but the Human Crew was finally defeated. Lana and a few volunteers tended to the wounded while Edilio had regarded the dead with an indescribable expression. It was a costly fight and despite the dissolution of the Human Crew, no one considered it a victory. Everyone had now gathered to discuss the aftermath.

"Sam, we have to do something." Lana paused and sighed. "I'm not sure how much more I can take." Sam and a few of the other kids assembled nodded sadly.

Edilio crossed his arms and gave her a sarcastic look. He hadn't seemed right after totaling the dead. He seemed as if he was finally starting to snap. "_You?_ What do you mean _you_? _You_ just heal people. How stressful is that?"

Lana looked offended. "You don't know what's inside my head," she warned in a low voice. "You don't know what I've been through." Patrick whined and buried his head beside her. She looked like she was about to say something when Sam stopped her. He laid a comforting hand on Lana's shoulder and shot a look at Edilio which translated as 'back down or I'll have to burn a hole through you.'

The Honduran had every intention of not backing down. He faced Sam, fire in his eyes and on his tongue. "And stop acting like you're the only god on earth here, Sam. I saw you at the battle. You sent me to fight Drake while you tackled the tattered pieces of the Human Crew. Sure you made it look fancy but without your power you'd be nothing. You went against Drake once and it almost killed you. You even had your powers back then too. I've lasted longer and I have _nothing!"_

"Hey, cool it, man. We'd all be in trouble without Sam." Quinn tried to stick up for his best friend. He held his hands out in a placating way, shooting a nervous glance at Sam.

Edilio had a few words to say about Quinn as well. "Where were you, Quinn? I didn't see you fighting. Oh yeah, you were _hiding_. In a boat, trying not to attract the enemies' attention. You were the same, Astrid. Always hiding behind Sam." Edilio took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He wasn't sure what was going on but he was angry.

Ellen sat up slightly in her seat. She never participated much in arguments between council members and other head honchos but she felt the need to intervene now. "Edilio," she said in a tone not unlike Lana's warning.

The boy was too far carried away in his rant to notice her. She said his name a little louder and he looked at her.

"Ah, our fearless fire chief. If I wasn't so busy being sheriff, gravedigger, head of the militia, and the stand in leader whenever Sam wants to take a day off, I'd probably still be the fire chief too."

"Leave them alone. They've worked as just as hard as you. They've fought and lost as just as much as you."

Edilio's laugh was hard and humorless. "Right. They've lost more than I have." He turned to face Sam. "Tell me Sam, when was the last time you ever dug a grave? Hmmm? Oh, yeah, of course. _You haven't! _It's always been me digging the graves." The boy's voice cracked slightly. "It's always been me going to the siblings and telling them their little brother was killed by a coyote or by some other kid just because they glanced at their bite of fish." Sam tried to say something but Edilio cut him off again. "73 graves, Sam. That's how many kids I've buried. And from what happened today, I'll have to dig 20 more." He glared at Ellen. "Don't you dare try to tell me they," he jerked a thumb in the direction of Quinn and Albert, "have had lost as just as much as I have."

"At least they're already dead," Ellen murmured. She hadn't meant for Edilio to have heard her.

"What do you mean?"

Ellen looked up at him, her calm mask starting to chip. "At least the people you're burying are already dead," she repeated.

"I've had to bury kids I used to go to school and hang out with. I've buried little children who barely even got enough time to live in this horrible place. I've had to throw two bodies into a grave because I didn't think I was strong enough to dig two separate holes." His breath hitched but he finished strongly. "You wouldn't know anything about it, Ellen."

"My father died because of me! I watched my mother and brother die! I went to their funerals!" Her voice rose. A few of the people watching exchanged shocked glances. The council and the others gathered knew little about Ellen's past. Edilio's face was tinged a light red—either from embarrassment or rage. "How would I not know what it felt like to watch someone be put into the ground? At least for you they weren't people anymore. They were just lifeless bodies, already in a safer and happier place. They were dead and there was nothing you could do about it." A sob broke the girl's speech. Lana placed a hand on Ellen's own trembling hand. She took a gasping breath and continued. "But there was something I could do about it. I'm supposed to save them, Edilio. Corpses don't scream for help and cry even when they know no one will save them. Dead bodies just are silent, ready to be tucked into the ground. It's people who beg you to save them but all you can do is watch as the building crumbles down or try to hold them together as they bleed out all of their life._ People _throw themselves out of burning buildings, preferring falling to their deaths than to be killed by fire. People, not bodies, whimper as they are pulled from the rubble with an arm missing or a big stick through their chest. Dead bodies aren't the ones who haunt your nightmares…it's the poor children who you couldn't save. It's the guilty feeling you get when you realize you had just enough time to save someone else but you hesitated because you were scared. Or if you had sprinted instead of jogged to them you might've been able to stop the bullet from entering their heads. Even making the decision on who deserves to live and who needs to die because we only have so many supplies and Lana only has so many hands." Her voice was becoming more battered with every word, her breath shuddering uncontrollably. Tears burned in the corners of her eyes and the girl wiped them away furiously. "You don't have to watch them die because they're already dead. You just have to put them in the ground where they can finally rest."

Silence met the girl's speech. She took deep breaths and steadily calmed her heart and breathing. Edilio was shocked into silence for a few moments before a dark rage settled across his features. He narrowed his eyes at the girl and tried to think of a rational response.

"You aren't the only one who had to endure that. I was at the Big Fire too. I heard their screams," he growled. "I knew they were dying and I couldn't stop them either. I was there today when the house started to fall and Drake was laughing about it. Who do you think was going after him? Trying to stop his reign of destruction? I was, Ellen."

"Yes, but you weren't _there_, Edilio." Ellen replied just as quietly as before.

"Yes, I was." Edilio surged to his feet. "He almost killed me at that battle!" He gestured frantically at the ropelike burns around his neck and the newly healed scar from where a bullet had grazed his temple. "Where were you?"

Ellen jumped up and slapped her palms on the table. "I was with the people who needed me!" She shouted at him. "I was trying to save them! I almost died too, Edilio!" For the first time, the Honduran noticed that there was a long slice across the girl's forehead which was freshly scared over and several crusty trails of dried blood ran from the injury. He also noticed the gray rubble pebbles that came from broken concrete covered her body, clothes, and were lodged in her disshelved hair. Some of his anger faded away without him realizing it. "You were there but you weren't in the right place. You were trying to get all the glory and be the hero. That selfish reason almost killed you. I was trying to help people and that's what almost killed me. You were going to die…but for the wrong reason!" she all but screamed at him. Suddenly everything inside of her broke down and she fell into choking sobs. Lana and Astrid leapt from their seats and tried to soothe the girl. They led Ellen towards the door and both helpers threw Edilio a disgusted look. The three slipped out of the room to leave a deathly silent group of spectators and an even more silent Edilio, who settled in his chair with a dull thud. One by one, each came up with a convenient excuse to leave. Soon all who were left was a still quiet Edilio and Sam, who had one eyebrow raised.

**_I watched you let yourself die...And now it's too late to save you this time_**

"I believe that is the loudest I've ever heard her speak," mused the freak. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, causing it to squeal loudly. Edilio winced and shook himself from his reflective trance. He cast one glum look at Sam before burying his face into his arms. The boy was exhausted. He wasn't sure on whether to feel guilt or fury towards Ellen now that their entire argument was starting to weigh in his mind. Sam waited patiently for Edilio to say something. When the Honduran didn't, Sam decided he had to be the bigger man and start the conversation.

"You were an idiot." Edilio lifted his head up from its cradle. Sam carried on. "You were a huge idiot. First off, don't say anything like that about Lana again; she's unstable and she's saved your life half a dozen times—so back off on one comment. All right?" Edilio narrowed his eyes but didn't object. "Second stupid thing you did was snap at everyone. Yes, I agree," Sam paused and replayed the accusations in his mind, "that you brought up some valid points. Quinn and Albert certainly haven't lost as much as you. But that doesn't mean they haven't been giving their hardest for everyone either. They just don't have as much to give as you or I. And yeah, I was being kind of a dictator then too. I suppose it runs in the family." Sam grinned ruefully and a ghost of a smile flicked across Edilio's face. "I'm sorry about putting you in danger. I figured you'd be able to handle it better than me."

"I'm sorry for being such an _estúpido tonto._I guess I was just so stressed out about not finally riding Perdido Beach of Drake. I hope you'll forgive me." Edilio said to him.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "I don't think it's me you'll need to be apologizing to. You single handedly took down our fire chief with a few words. The Great Fire wasn't even able to do that. If she's not okay by tomorrow, you are going to be in trouble."

Edilio gritted his teeth. "There you go again!" He said in an exasperated voice. "Telling people what t—" Instead of causing the boy to explode, Sam's look caused him to bury his argument. He stewed in his sudden anger but said nothing.

"You hurt her, Edilio." The Honduran looked away. "You hurt her more than anyone or anything could have. I don't know how you did it, but you did. And now you have to apologize." He waited for Edilio's objection but none came. He was as silent as the grave, his expression cold and stony. The freak continued. "If there is someone in Perdido Beach who matches your strength and determination, Ellen has to be it. I know she might not seem like it at first, but I think she is even braver than you in some aspects. She's clearly more sensible and controlled than you." Sam gave his friend a side-longed glance. Edilio stared straight ahead, eyes unseeing.

Sam let out a gusty breath, leaned back in his chair, and stretched out his legs. He thought for a moment, trying to figure out what could bring Edilio to his senses. After a minute of hard pondering, he got an idea.

"We all know what happened to you," Sam started. The freak traced a pattern around his own neck identical to the burn on Edilio's. Something in Edilio's icy gaze flickered. "But did you know what happened to Ellen?" The younger boy turned and looked at Sam expectantly. "You might've noticed the rubble all over her body and in her hair." A tight nod from Edilio was the response. "Well, that was from when we pulled her from the debris of that house." During the most recent fight, a young freak had panicked and with her power sent a major earthquake rippling through Perdido Beach. Edilio had assumed it was a small quake that only hit the occasional abandoned shop or house. He was dead wrong. The earthquake had split one of the most populous housing apartments for the citizens of the FAYZ right in half. While Sam and Edilio were off battling the Human Crew and Drake, Ellen and her crew were forced to evacuate 50 screaming kids from an unstable and crumbling building.

"Ellen was on her fifth trip in when the building finally fell to the ground. It took us three hours to dig her out. Patrick had smelt her and barked nonstop until someone went over to see what he was barking at. A concrete wall had fallen on her and cracked several ribs and she was barely able to breathe. One of the foundation beams hit her," Sam said, brushing a finger across his forehead, "so she lost a ton of blood too. She was unconscious and we thought she was already gone. Thankfully Lana was nearby and we were able to pull her back to Earth. The two kids she was with while trying to rescue them weren't so lucky. I was told Ellen came straight from the collapsed remains of that building to here to make the meeting. That wasn't far from what you did, right? As soon as you could walk, Lana said you all but ran down to town hall. Have either of you two ever heard of a sick day?" Sam twisted his face into a dry smile. He sighed and pushed himself out of the chair, watching Edilio's expression the entire time. Throughout Sam's story it had morphed into a subtle mix of horror and indecision. Sam walked wearily towards the door but paused before leaving, one hand already on the doorknob and back facing Edilio.

"Y'know what?" No response. "I think I may know why Ellen was so upset. She saw that you were dying and she couldn't save your life like she couldn't stop the other kids from dying." Sam could hear Edilio shift in his seat behind him. "Not physically dying, mind you, but just dying. I can't really explain it." Sam thought for a moment. "Like you suddenly…changed in front of her like some monster and she felt like old Edilio died. You scared her." Sam glanced over his shoulder and wasn't surprised to see Edilio was off on another planet in thought. "I know you frightened me when you started screaming at everyone. I was thinking _'What happened to calm Edilio?'_and I bet a lot of others were thinking that same thing. Ellen was scared that she'd have to bury another one of her friends into the ground. Tell me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that part of the whole argument you two had in the first place? You were upset about you being the only one to have to bury friends? And Ellen tried to convince you that you weren't the only one but you just screamed at her? Huh, weird." Sam smiled, knowing that Edilio wouldn't see it. _Inspirational speeches never really were my thing._

**_All my tears won't drown my pain...Free me from your sorrow...I can't grieve you again_**

"I'll just be outside if you need me." Lana paused. "I used to have a crush on him too. It's all right. He's a jerk and doesn't deserve you." The healing freak slipped out of the room to stand guard outside of the door. Ellen was glad Lana missed the deep red blush that rapidly spread across the fire chief's face.

"I do _not _love Edilio." she muttered under her breath. Ellen licked her suddenly dry lips and ran a careful hand across her forehead. Even though Lana healed it, it still stung. The girl turned around and walked to the window. The sun had already gone down so that meant outside was dark and cold. Ellen sighed and rested her injured forehead against the pane. Slowly the ice seeped into her mind and numbed her head and thoughts. The coolness caused all of her troubling thoughts to disappear for a moment and she felt calm. Ellen raised a shaky hand and pressed it against the glass. Shivers ran up and down her arm. She closed her eyes, reluctant to stare into the black night. Her breathing slowed and she tried to sort her sluggish thoughts into order.

_Is this what it's like to die? It's so peaceful and cold. _Ellen reminded herself to keep breathing calmly and not fall asleep. She cracked one eye open to see a filmy cover of fog on the window. Ellen leaned back and pulled herself remorsefully from the window. She threw one last look at the dark outside before making her way to the nearest chair. She collapsed in it and held her head in her hands. Unlike the window, her warm hands made her aching head burn with energy.

"I do not love Edilio," she repeated softly. Her fingers traced over her bloodshot eyes. Not even an hour ago, stinging water had leaked from them. The last time she had cried was when they lowered her brother into the ground, right next to their parents. But even then her tears then hadn't been from sorrow. She had cried tears of relief. She was not glad he was gone, but she was glad he finally was with people who loved him. Even if all of them were dead, they were together. And that left Ellen all alone, alive but just as cold. Ellen closed her fingers in a tight fist. She could not love Edilio. Love didn't exist. At least not for the living. She slammed her fist into the open palm of her other hand, pretending it was Edilio's face. She didn't know what was wrong with him and she didn't know what was wrong with her. She felt like she was dying after they argued but Ellen knew she had no physical wound. Seeing Edilio falling apart like that wrenched her heart apart and the girl had to force herself to remember that the heart is just an organ. She freed her fingers from their prison and ran them across the side of her face again.

_Could I have fallen in love with him?_ "And not have known it?" She asked her second question out loud. The girl was silent for a moment. _Maybe._ She took a deep breath and glanced up at the ceiling. "Or maybe I knew I was falling in love but I didn't try to stop it. Because I didn't know how…?" Ellen groaned and rubbed at her temples. She stood up and crossed her arms, casting another baleful glare at the dark window. "Well, regardless, it doesn't matter." The fire chief said in her most chipper voice. "Whatever it was is dead and buried. It's not coming back up again." She headed towards the door when voices stopped her.

"What do _you_ want?" Ellen could hear Lana growl. Patrick, the oaf of a dog sensing something was up, rumbled deeply in his chest next to Lana. Ellen wasn't sure on who sounded fiercer but it she had to pick, it'd be Lana. It didn't take long for her to figure out who was at the door.

Either Edilio didn't answer or he whispered his response because Ellen couldn't hear him. Lana issued a few more threats, each one more colorful than the last before Ellen could hear the Healer stalking off with Patrick in tow. She wasn't sure if Edilio was still there or not and she certainly wasn't going to check. With no other earthly suggestion on what to do, Ellen stood by the door and made sure to breathe.

**_All I see is black and cold...As I try to pull you down...To the ground, the ground_**

Edilio wasn't expecting a ferocious guard with claws and teeth at the ready, standing by Ellen's room. He also hadn't been expecting Patrick. Lana had been quite frightening. Seeing her by the door with teeth slightly bared, Edilio was reminded of Sam's tip to _not_ tick off the Healer. In hindsight the Honduran realized it probably wasn't one of the smartest things he'd ever done. He hadn't even said anything. She just pinned him with her dagger eyes and asked what he wanted. He looked pointedly at the door and Lana got the message. He wasn't sure she would even leave him alone to possibly talk with Ellen in fear that he'd start shouting again. Lana left a few rather morbid threats before sulking away. _She must have quite a lot of time at Clifftop to have thought of _that_ one, _Edilio mused dryly, taking particular care to not cross the Healer in the future with the threat of the last one hanging over his head. He took a step forward and froze. He had worked up all her was going to say in his mind before coming here. Sam's words had inspired him and got him thinking about many things in a light he never knew existed. Even though he wasn't eager to do it, Edilio was going to apologize.

But he couldn't summon up any of the words in his mind. He felt his eyebrows crease and he bit his now very dry lip. Edilio felt a weird beat in his chest that wasn't unlike the thrill he would get before going after some ruffian. He raised his closed fist up to the door as if to knock but was unable to do much else. Doubt and other insecurities flashed through his mind and the sheriff wondered what was happening to him. He wondered if Ellen was even in there and if she was, would she really listen to him. Edilio tried to lower his fist but was unable to move his hand. His entire body felt empty and numb and he couldn't do a single thing. The only things he could do was wait with one fist poised in the air and remember to try to breathe.

_**Don't leave me to die..Too consumed by your own emptiness and lies**_

And so the two stood there, on either sides of the door, waiting for something and trying to breathe. Neither knew what they were waiting for and neither knew what they wanted. Perhaps for the cold, dark ground to just swallow them up and stop all of the awkward pain. Or maybe it was the unforgiving albeit peaceful ground they wanted to save each other from, despite the fact that neither of them knew how. They were terrified of being buried alive, cold and heartless before their time and leaving behind nothing but an empty corpse in a grave, the earth and dirt smothering them until they simply gave up. And they were scared of falling in love because that meant there was always another person to bury into the ground later on, another person they wouldn't be able to save. They both stood there, knowing all too well on what was required to fix this problem once and for all, and yet neither of them were willing to buy their hearts.

**_You bury me alive...And everybody's got to breathe somehow_**

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**I bet I could melt that last paragraph and serve it as fondue it was so cheesy. Did you guys like it? I love this couple so flipping much I've been wanted to make an 'Elemental Series' with them. 'On Fire' was with, well, fire and this one dealt with the ground and earth. If you guys would like to see that in the future, please tell me! Thanks to reviewers and favoriters. I've gotten a ton of people to favorite this! Thanks!**

**JokerGrace - Aww! Thank you so much! I can't even begin to say how much my day improved due to your review. Thanks also for the suggestions. I have a few completely insane ideas(but in a good way) under my hat, waiting for a rainy day to come out. I hope you'll like them later on!**


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